On 24 July, ONN Engagement and Network Specialist Olamide Samuel addressed the Hiroshima International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) Academy 2025 cohort on “Building Peace in Times of Change.”
Framed by hibakusha testimony and today’s flash-points (from the India-Pakistan crisis to the recent US strikes on Iran) the talk challenged the idea that nuclear deterrence equals sustainable security. Instead, it advanced a human-security vision of peace: freedom from both fear and want. Survivors’ stories, grassroots activism, rigorous research and pragmatic diplomacy all converged in one message: nuclear danger is a man-made choice that can be un-made.
The lecture spotlighted two game-changing levers for young professionals. First, follow the money: global finance still funnels hundreds of billions into nuclear-weapons producers, yet divestment campaigns are turning those assets toxic. Second, change the narrative: the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is rewriting what “security” means by putting non-nuclear states and humanity at the center.
The closing call to action? Use every hat (analyst, activist, diplomat, investor) to strip nuclear weapons of their funding and legitimacy, and build a world where nobody has to live under a mushroom-cloud shadow.
